Progress Software has acquired privately-held algorithmic trading technology vendor Apama in an all-cash transaction for $25.4 million.
Founded in 1999 by Cambridge PHD graduates John Bates and Giles Nelson, Apama provides patented technology for analysing and acting on live data-streams. The company, which numbers JP Morgan and ABN Amro among its clients, recently made its first sales to the hedge fund buy-side community.
Once the transaction is completed, Apama will become part of Progress unit OBjectStore, which provides historical event data management software and reference data delivery systems. In addition, Sonic Software, another Progress Software operating unit, provides market data distribution technology, which can be used to publish Progress applications and services to the enterprise.
Peter Beard, CEO of Apama, says: "As our customers expand their deployments, very high performance data management and integration are key issues. Progress brings essential elements that our customers have been asking for."
Apama founders Bates and Nelson will both take on additional roles within ObjectStore, while Beard assumes responsibility for ObjectStore's global field operations. Prior to joining Apama, Beard served as CEO of Whitelight Systems, a vendor of real-time analytics targeting the financial services sector. Andy Menzies, Apama's vice president of sales, assumes the role of vice president of global financial services for ObjectStore.
In total, sixteen Apama employees will be offered inducement options in Progress stock as part of the merger agreement, and additional bonus payments if targets are met over the next twelve months, costing Progress a maximum $4 million in retention payments.
Progress anticipates revenue related to the acquisition to be in the range of between $2 million and $3 million for the balance of fiscal 2005.